Fenix ARB-L2P 3200mAh cell - NCR18650A or NCR18650BE?

I have some Fenix ARB-L2P 3200mAh cells, all supplied by the same authorised Fenix dealer. The majority of them have "NCR18650BE" (the Panasonic base cell type) in small type on the label, but I've just noticed that a couple of them say "NCR18650A".

Can Fenix tell me why that would be, please?

Are there any differences I should be aware of?

Fenix is on their national holiday until about Oct. 10. We will go ahead and send them this questions and will post their answer here when we hear back.

Phlogiston said:

I have some Fenix ARB-L2P 3200mAh cells, all supplied by the same authorised Fenix dealer. The majority of them have "NCR18650BE" (the Panasonic base cell type) in small type on the label, but I've just noticed that a couple of them say "NCR18650A".

Can Fenix tell me why that would be, please?

Are there any differences I should be aware of?

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Fenix, like many other 2nd parties, are at the mercy of Panasonic when it comes to what is available and when. As for the Why the why is because that particular base cell is what was available at the time. Fenix and even Nitecore dont buy enough cells to make demands on Panasonic despite both Fenix and Nitecore selling cells in the 6-7 figure range per year. Panasonic and Sanyo largely make 18650's for laptop computers and the Toyota Prius(no joke the latest Prius battery pack is a couple hundred pounds worth of 18650's)the LED light market is paltry beans for them so 2nd party repackagers like Fenix and NC are left to buy what is left over. I am not aware of what the difference between the A and BE is other than possibly just what factory they came out of.

fenix store said:

Fenix is on their national holiday until about Oct. 10. We will go ahead and send them this questions and will post their answer here when we hear back.

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Thank you.

CelticCross74 said:

Fenix, like many other 2nd parties, are at the mercy of Panasonic when it comes to what is available and when.

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That's certainly true.

I wouldn't even think about it if this were a repackaged Eneloop, but I do follow up on Li-Ions, because of all the stories about scrapped cells and even outright fakes finding their way into the supply chain.

CelticCross74 said:

I am not aware of what the difference between the A and BE is other than possibly just what factory they came out of.

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I've managed to find a data sheet for the A on the Panasonic website [PDF], but not the BE (big list of cell types here). I did note that the A is rated for 2900 mAh minimum and 3070 mAh typical, which I'm also wondering about now, because the ARB-L2P is supposed to be 3200 mAh.

The data sheet for the A has all manner of interesting information on it, in fact. Does anyone know where I can get a proper Panasonic data sheet for the BE? I've found one for the B, but not the BE, and my engineer's curiosity has kicked in now

Fenix has returned to work and sent this message in response to your question:

Regarding the below question, I have checked it with our engineer and the fact is the labels were printed with the wrong name. The correct label should be "NCR18650BE", which is what we use actually and with higher capacity than the "NCR18650A".​

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Sorry for the confusion caused to the customer.

Hope this clarified everything.​

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That clears the question up and sets my mind completely at ease.

It's always the little things that trip you up!

It's good to know that my cells are actually all the same. Even with protection circuits, I wouldn't want to be accidentally mismatching them when I use them together.

Thank you very much for your help.

Where did you buy the batteries? Link or seller name? Thank you

My Fenix stuff usually comes from MyFenix or Flashaholics. They're both UK dealers, and they both have CPF discounts.